Metaluna Mutant

[scarey1scd]

I got mine from Atlantis as well

[Wolfman66]

You should still snag one.
Cool box. Rare kit. Not many made.

Actually they were made in styrene back in 2017 by the Original owner of the Aurora sculpt.Then he later sold it to Atlantis.I have yet to get the Atlantis issue.But have the both regular and Glow version from 2017.

[Hepcat]

Actually they were made in styrene back in 2017 by the Original owner of the Aurora sculpt.Then he later sold it to Atlantis.

Was there a brand name or even a box with artwork?

 

[Wolfman66]

Was there a brand name or even a box with artwork?

 

Taken from Buc's site on his Aurora page,

AURORA's Metaluna Mutant


   
Metaluna Mutant Model Kit Illustration
Original Art (Aurora, 1974).

Having found great success with the Monster Scenes, Comic Scenes, and Prehistoric Scenes model kits, Aurora planned to produce a series of Science Fiction Scenes.

These models were to include the Time Machine, the "War of the Worlds" spaceship, Gort from "The Day The Earth Stood Still," Robby the Robot, and the Metaluna Mutant from "This Island Earth." Although artwork and even a few prototypes were produced, the line never came to pass!

Seen on eBay, here is artwork prepared by comic great Dave Cockrum, presumably as a guide to the sculptor in creating a 3-D version of this monster. Cockrum provided extensive text notes on the various details of the creature's appearance. Signed by Cockrum in the lower right corner, this artwork measures 11" x 13.75". (Photo & description taken from an eBay auction)


This painting was posted by
Lee Lee on Facebook.

Lee tells us that this image appears on the
Aurora DVD 'The Monsters That Shook The
World'... the section with Andy Yanchus talking
about the late Dave Cockrum.

(5/2019)




   
Metaluna Mutant Model
Acetate sculpt (sold on eBay).

In the early 2000's, the acetate sculpture of the Metaluna Mutant appeared on eBay and was bought by Phil C.



The Phil Ceparano / Al Reboiro
limited resin release

In 2002, Phil & Al teamed up to offer a resin version. It was to be
limited editions and each would receive the kit and a "Certificate
of Authenticity".

(update) Al wrote and said, "A total of 26 Mutant kits were produced in 2002.
13 were sold to list members. The others were either proofs, gifts
to friends and personal copies. You didn't think Phil and myself wouldn't
keep a few for ourselves?"

(thanks to Face Book, Hobby Talk & the Yahoo Aurora group)

second part

The 2017 Styrene version

In April 2017, a styrene version of the Metaluna Mutant
was spotted at CHILLER.

Here's what I've gathered:

Phil C. walks into CHILLER's vendor area with a shopping bag containing 4
of the kits, (11 more are in his car), in one hand and a build-up of the Metaluna
Mutant in his other. He then proceeds to go to a few vendor's, (who we're
all familiar with), and inquires if they'd like to sell said kit from their tables.

He knows the cost that has to be covered, what he'd like to make above
that, and asks each one what profit margin they'd like to get?

Chuck H. tells us, "I was at Chiller and bought one of these kits. It is an injection
molded styrene kit. The base is new to this release. There are no decals or box,
just a bagged kit. There are actually 110* in existence as of now."

Robb R. says, "The reason why there is only 110* is that the molds did not last,
they were damaged while running more. They only got the 100 or so sets out and
thats it for those molds."

(* hearing now it was actually 107.)

Tom P.: "Apparently one of the two dozen or so castings done by Al Rebeiro
back in 2001 were sent to China where it was scanned, tweaked, engineered,
broken down, etc, then tooled."

"Parts breakdown does NOT match that of the original pattern, BUT arms
are jointed/moveable at the elbows (and of course they rotate at the shoulders)
and the pincers/claws are separate parts and also moveable. There ARE
some fit issues, but no worse than on a vintage Aurora. Apparently these are
the equivalent of "test shots" but the tooling was never tweaked."

Phil: "Mr. Lee showed up at my house & says, are you Phil,
the monster guy, and pulls out a mutant kit. I said where did this
come from, & how did you get this?"

"He's not a model guy. I think he got ahold of a resin kit, knew about the
value of it... sent it to China with someone, had a mold made, he said
& shot the kits."

"He would have had more made but he says high pressure damaged the
mold after 107 kits. I was asked to help sell the kits because I sold the
12 resin kits years ago."

"I have had them for about 5 weeks before Chiller. I think its great to have a
styrene kit, since I never built my resin kit. Will he have the mold repaired?
I HOPE so!"In October 2020, Phil had a box made up to go with it!

So, there you have it! I think it's a great looking piece!
In November 2021, Steve (CultTVMan) informed us that Atlantis will
be coming out with this kit on Mar 30th, 2022. We suspect it's Phil's Mutant, but
we'll know more in the future!

You can find all info on the History of it on Buc's site----->http://www.bucwheat.com/metaluna/metaluna.htm

[Rockshasa]

What I find interesting is that this monster was even noteworthy. He appears as a blip at the end of a somewhat obscure movie. There were tons of these man-in-an-alien-costume-get-up back then. I just find it odd that this particular alien has stood the test of time.

[Tom_Hering]

I got my kit a few days ago, direct from Atlantis, for about $50.00 total. But I noticed yesterday that some eBay sellers have the best price, $37.95 + free shipping.

[Tom_Hering]

What I find interesting is that this monster was even noteworthy. He appears as a blip at the end of a somewhat obscure movie. There were tons of these man-in-an-alien-costume-get-up back then. I just find it odd that this particular alien has stood the test of time.

No fan of 1950s SF movies would consider This Island Earth to be "a somewhat obscure movie." As Bill Warren writes in his massive history of '50s SF films, Keep Watching the Skies! (Volume One, 1982), "The vivid color ... and flamboyant special effects put it well above anything else of the period, with the exceptions of George Pal's films and Forbidden Planet. It's frequently shown at science fiction conventions and on television."

One reason the Metaluna Mutant has stood the test of time - at least among modelers - is the fact that it's a "lost Aurora" subject. And hey, it's a Universal monster!

[MonsterBaker666]

I ordered mine from Cukttvman.  They said they should get theirs from Atlantis in a week or 2

[Dr.Terror]

What I find interesting is that this monster was even noteworthy. He appears as a blip at the end of a somewhat obscure movie. There were tons of these man-in-an-alien-costume-get-up back then. I just find it odd that this particular alien has stood the test of time.

Ive never understood the rabid fanbase for this character either.  It may have appeared in a Universal produced film, but I never considered it a, "Universal Monster".  Or any of the 50s stuff.   It always bums me out when I see him or the Creature take up a slot one of the sympathetic Human monsters could have filled.

[MonsterBaker666]

He's an alien with a giant brain, claws, and a spiffy pair of pants.  What's not to love??

[Dr. Sam Hain]

He's an alien with a giant brain, claws, and a spiffy pair of pants.  What's not to love??

Precisely 

I admit that as a cinematic suit, dynamically it is ropey & clunky at best, & when I watch it I still keep waiting for the top half of the suit to topple off & the actor inside to go with it, but as a static design, whoa, amazing creature, definitely iconic.

It has all the elements as noted by Monsterbaker666, but in that 'perfect' scale, & the forms are beautiful as well. Probably one of the first, if not one of the very few screen pressed Creatures up until that time which had a true, albeit still bi-pedal, Insectoid Crustacean cross over appearance to it, & the big compound saucer eyes of course, & the utterly inhuman filter mouth, very cool indeed. The colour scheme helps a lot too, were it green & brown, or a lurid yellow with purple trim, it may not have had the same appeal, it just works.

Plus, as a kid, we could easily walk or run around pretending to be it by making crab claw shapes with our hands & puckering up our mouths. It walked on two legs so that was a given for most people & we could pretend we had giant brain heads, or stick on your mothers old hairdryer hood thingy, whereas, & as much much as I was a 'weirdo' Monster Kid, I wasn't running around playing at being a Giant Demonic L'Craftian Beast from the Black Void that shoots out toothy barbed tentacles from every orrifice smothering & sucking dry the lifeforce from my playmates whilst driving them irreversibly insane... at least I think I didn't, wait, ehhrrrm  ...so, as much as it is alien, it has some human qualities we can still connect with, or be scared of, & has facets of the natural world around us we recognise as 'real'.

Anyway, childhood lunancy aside, with myself being a fanboy of the likes of Paul Blaisdell Creature designs, I am somewhat aesthetically bias to Creatures others may find absurd.

I hereby put M-M up there in the top 20 easily, being that - of course - Gilly is King, Unero-Numo & not one Monster shall ever surpass that perfect Creature of the Amazon River, in my eyes at least.

[Hepcat]

It always bums me out when I see him or the Creature take up a slot one of the sympathetic Human monsters could have filled.

Me I've always sympathized with both the Creature and the Metaluna Mutant.

 

He's an alien with a giant brain, claws, and a spiffy pair of pants.  What's not to love??

Could be the pants. Generation X'ers and Millennials turn up their nose at pants made by traditional manufacturers such as Levis, Lees, Wrangler and GWG regardless of how spiffy they are. Youngsters these days demand higher-priced apparel made by fashion designers such as Calvin Klein or Guess. Traditional name brands won't do.

 

[Wolfman]

Ive never understood the rabid fanbase for this character either.  It may have appeared in a Universal produced film, but I never considered it a, "Universal Monster".  Or any of the 50s stuff.   It always bums me out when I see him or the Creature take up a slot one of the sympathetic Human monsters could have filled.

The Creature and the Metaluna Mutant shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. One's legendary, and the other is not.

JP

[Monsters For Sale]

The Creature and the Metaluna Mutant shouldn't even be mentioned in the same sentence. One's legendary, and the other is not.

JP

How do you feel about the Monster of Piedras Blancas and  IT! the Terror from Beyond Space?  (The alien from I Married a Monster from Outer Space?

[MonsterBaker666]

I think the reason one is more known is that the Creature was in 3 films, and the "star" attraction in all of them. The mutant was in one film and just a monster at the end of the film.  Kind of like the Frankenstein monster being better known than Ygor.  Heck, people, even monster kids think Ygor is a Sheppard when the dialog in the film said he was a blacksmith.  And most people think he's Igor.  Bet if they were shown a photo of Fritz they'd say her was Igor.

But as to the Mutant, my model kit was just shipped by Culttvman.  Since they're in GA and I live in FL I should get it in a couple days.  Now I'll have something to build this Memorial day weekend